As some of you know I work for a Dodge dealer, and some of you also know that I am going to a managers meeting next week. What I want to hear is warranty horror stories. I want to hear when you have been treated in a manner that you think is unfair. When the dealer said that mods were the cause of your problem.Tell me about beingdenied warranty coverage.. But to be fair, tell me the whole story not just your side. Please keep this to just warranty issues. I am posting this in the 3rd gen and diesel forums...Thanks in advance for the posts. I am taking this and the posts from the earlier forumtitled questions about dealers to the meeting with me......
Link to earlier forum>>>> https://dodgeforum.com/m_974585/mpag.../tm.htm#974585

 

had a lazy shifting problem with my '05 AT... took it to dodge for them to look at it and was told that "it definately had a problem" ... duh, that's why i'm hear... should be a no-brainer covered under warranty.

They came back with "the fluid is burnt and the repair may not be covered under warranty." My response was the fluid was not burnt. tranny has never run hot, since adding the gauge 30k miles ago, with 1 service since then. I was informed that they would tear it appart and submit the issue to DC. if DC refused to cover the warranty then I'd have to fork over $1100 bux for the labor to tear it down & put it back together. Then I get the option of doing what I want with it. BS I say. give me my truck back. took it over to the shop that I've delt with for years, owner had a look at it, fluid was fine as I already knew and he gave me the options... $1800 to fix it, about $3k to rebuild it with heavy duty parts. OK, well I bit the bullet and went for the rebuild, and tossed in a heavy duty torque converter.

I felt Dodges way of handling it sucked, if the tranny has a problem and they know it does, they should have fixed it no questions asked.

Managers... If you get to hear this, listen to what we the owners have to say. It is because of continued poor service from dealers that I stay away from them. I'd rather buy a used car I can fix & do what I want than have to deal with any warranty issues. My current warranty on the motor expires in 7k miles.... I will be so happy to not have to consider the dealer in any work I have to do after that.

anyways, enough venting... hope this helps.

 

I don't have any horror stories with dodge yet... but with my ma's ford don't get me going. but we may have one soon theres a few things with the interior of my dads truck that need to be fixed and we will see if they cover it. this cover in th back for teh middle seat in the cab has a cover where th belt goes back behind teh back panel. that cover is falling offf and all messed up. they shoudl replace it but we'll see.

 

MY only thing is when you get a improperly trained " Factory Certified Mechanic"......Years back... hopefully you don't mind.. I bought a used Dodge Dakota... I belive it was a 1999.... Brought it in for a major hesitation in gear changes... and tech took it out.... noticed the problem... tore the tranny apart... but never figured out the problem....But they did do a rebuild... just thought it would have been nice to know exaclty what was wrong...and again... .the Service Advisors thinkin they are techs.... in another instance... my 05 Ram...had a 4.7.... would sumtimes shift hard... i mean hard... almost like sumone rear-ending you....Brought it in several times... and each time they'd have my computer re-learn itself... never helped and they never found the problem....Just wish they'd investigate a bit more...

 

Never have had work done at a dealer (or by anyone else for the matter) But after talking to a few of the service writers and managers I get the feeling that they are more of a salesmen then anything[&o]. I got a fair amount of knowledge in cars and trucks, (I'm a diesel tech at an IH dealer, I don't let them know that though when I talk tothem) so I know when the bs starts to flow, and it gets fairly deep fairly quick (sometimes I don't even have a chance to roll up my pant legs). That alone will keep me far from any dealer weather its for parts or service. (that and I have access to every tool and book they got too)

 

I also work at a dealer (not Dodge).. and I can say that my truck will never see a dodge dealer since the day I bought it, period. I don't trust dealers, when customer-pay work pays 2x what warranty will reimburse the dealer for it just breeds dishonesty. I don't believe in the flat-rate system of paying technicians...most of the time, a repairis over-bid and hacked together in 10% of the time it was billed for. Until a better, more honest way of structuring a dealership is invented, the industry's image will suffer....

 

Man I've heard so many horror stories that I can't even remember them all. Who was it .. Cumminalong that got SERIOUSLY yanked around last year? I can't remember ( wish he was here )

I remember Steve's story like it was yesterday and thinking to myself that if it were me I'd kill the effing guy !! [:@]

I guess the #1 complaint that is a common thread through all of the stories is the bull****. The lies told, they way people are denied, so on and so forth. I think just about all warranties were eventually granted once several steps were taken to reach higher-ups who eventually take care of the situation after several hoops are jumped through.

Why all of the grief?
Why all of the agg ??
Why so much red tape?
Why all of the bull****? [:@]

Why not just let the little guy ( the first guy in the chain ) honor the warranty instead of inspiring him to stick it to the customer? Why put the customer through it all? Do you REALLY think customers are purposely damaging their trucks after spending 40+K on em?

I think whoever the automaker is that streamlines their customer service will eventually win. Right now I'd say that award is going to foreign automakers.

 

EXACTLY! ... as a technician you're punished for sticking up for the manufactuer and handling the problem via warranty. There are legitimate cases where the warranty is void... obvious collision repair, that was never fully repaired, abuse and neglegence... going 30,000 miles without an oil change etc. etc. Dealers are frustrating. Our image as technicians is in the gutter thanks to the irresponsible few that hack through jobs, void warrantys without legitimate reasons, claim they couldn't duplicate a rattle for fear the dash may have to come out. There are those of us out there who take pride in what we do and the product we send the customer down the road with... we do exist. Not to toot my own horn... but some of the technician bashing is hitting a soft spot.

 

The owner of M&M dodge in Alexandria Louisiana tried to pick a fight with me when I complained about them not doing anything to fix my truck last time it acted up. I mean, it was the fault of the programmer, but they didnt know that and they were just looking for a reason not to fix it. Either way, that guy should never treat anyone like that. I called Dodge and from what I was told, the owner basiclly had the techs call them up and lie about things just so they wouldn't have to fix it. Maybe if dealerships spent more time fixing problems and less time trying to get out of it, people would be happier. If a dealer fixes a problem with a truck and its still under warranty, what difference does it make weither or not the mods caused the problem?? the dealer still gets reembursed from Diamler Chrysler. When a person spends $35-40,000 on a vehicle, they should have absolutely NO prolbem whatsoever getting it serviced and repaired, regardless of where the problem came from,,, ESPECIALLY it it's under warranty.

 

I had an 03 2500 with a hemi at 12000 miles the top end of the engine started to clatter, took to dealer they said normal, truck was in the shop 13 times for poor fuel milage, 9 or less mpg, then when the truck had 38000 on it the dealership was sold and the new owner told me since I didn't buy from him my truck would have to wait until he took care of his customers, I told him that I bought it from who he bought the dealership from, he told me I would still have to wait for his customers, since he only had one mech. tech and a list of other customer issues it was going to be a three week wait. I called dodge and complained, 5 minutes after getting off the phone with dodge the service manager called and said they would get it in the next day, then at 6:00 that night he called and said he wouldn't have room for it for thrre weeks. I called the dealership manager the next day and told him that since the sale of the dealership the service had gotten really Sh#$%^, he told me that if I felt that way to take my f*&%#ng buisness elsewhere, so a week latter I drove 13 hours each way to trade the old hemi in on a new cummins, by the time I got to the other dealership I was down to 3 mpg and the truck sounded like it was going to fall apart, the other dealer knew what was wrong right away, gave me full low book for it and dropped a crate motor in and sold it. If alll dealers acted like they did I wouldn't hesitate to take my truck to one.